Three Idiots and a Ghost

Because you will get to places (Part 03)

"Hello? Anybody home?" Walt asked.

Warrick got chills walking inside the dimly lit home. "I don't know about this, Walt. We're literally trespassing."

"We got the cat's permission."

"It's a fucking cat!"

"That's where you're wrong," came a low, rumbling voice at the end of the long hallway from the front door. "Come forward, visitors."

Warrick gulped. "I ran the doorbell, so you lead the way, Walt."

Walt sighed at his pussy of a brother and proceeded forward. The cat ran off into the room where the owner of the voice was. The room light flashed on. Walt and Ever walked in with Warrick following them a few seconds later. Before them in an armchair was an elderly man around Granny's age who was dressed in a dark blue robe and pointed hat to match. The cat jumped on his lap.

"Aw, who's a good dog?" the man said, petting his furry companion. "You are, Doug."

"Uh, that's a cat," Ever said.

"Shame on you! You shouldn't assume his species. Doug was actually a black Labrador that met a bad wizard owner."

"Meooow."

Ever looked at him unconvinced. It was just one crazy old person after the other.

"The world is full of strange and amazing phenomena, you know! You just have to be willing to open your eyes to them." The man waved out his hand from which sparkles fell out and sprinkled over the animal on his lap.

"Woof!" barked the cat-looking creature.

"Woah..." Now Ever was convinced. 

Right, she couldn't forget the fact that she had been traveling with two psychics who could bring the dead back to life. Her eyes were more open than ever.

The man burst out laughing. "Nah, I'm just messing with you!"

"Wait, what? But..."

"It's true that Doug is a rescue, but he's just an ordinary cat." The man reached into the big sleeve of his robe and pulled out a small glass bottle. "I bought this stuff at a recent auction. It temporarily makes any animal speak the language of dogs. Let me show you one more time."

He poured out a bit of the sparkly powder onto his hand and blew it toward Warrick. Not having expected himself to become the target, the boy immediately inhaled the substance and choked on it, causing him to cough like crazy.

"Urgh— Woof!" Warrick's eyes widened in shock. "Woof! Woof!"

Completely ignoring his brother's predicament, Walt asked, "You're Merlin, right?"

"Yet another assumption, I see," the man said, stroking his long, majestic beard. "Just like how you assumed the doorbell would do something to you just because it had a 'Do not press' sign above it. Actually, the fact you assumed it was a doorbell at all was wrong! It's just another way to unlock the door on days I forget my house keys."

"That seems like a great way to get robbed if you ask me," Ever remarked.

"Hence, the sign," the man pointed out. "It tends to keep people out."

Ever crossed her arms. "So, you're going to tell us off for making assumptions when you rely on people making them to keep them out of your house? Sounds pretty hypocritical to me."

"Argh...!"

"What, do you want us to assume you're a pirate instead of a wizard now?"

"Ahem," the man cleared his throat. He couldn't believe this girl was able to find a flaw in his logic. It seemed he wasn't dealing with just any regular youngsters here. Actually, was it wrong of him to assume they were young at all? His head suddenly got filled with a lot of complicated thoughts. "A-Anyway, you assumed right to think I'm Merlin, so I shall listen to why you are here!"

"We're here for your PISS," Walt said.

"Oh, why didn't you say so sooner? I'll just use the bathroom real quick—"

"Your Pendant for Incredible Summoning Spells," Ever clarified, giving Walt a look for not using the full name from the start.

The boy shrugged. Lots of magical objects tended to have odd names, so he didn't even think much of it anymore.

"Hmm..." Merlin twirled a strand of his beard. "That's one of my prized items. I won't give it to just anyone, you know."

"Aren't you acquainted with Angela Michaelson?" Walt asked.

Merlin recognized the name right away. "The Wolf Queen?"

"The Wolf Queen?" Ever and Walt repeated together.

"Woof?"

"That was her nickname back in the day because there wasn't a single werewolf that didn't know about her. From what I heard, she could ride those wolves all night long."

"Wowf."

"Yes, so she's our grandma," Walt said, pointing to himself and his barking brother. "She and we need your PISS for a spell."

"Ah, well, if it's for the Wolf Queen, I suppose I'd be willing to lend you the item. But it's too bad."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't have it anymore," Merlin admitted with a shrug. "I lent it to some other kid just an hour ago."